The Eyes Have It: The Evil Eye in Greece

BY ALEXIA AMVRAZI

Go out armed with a charm (or
cross) and hope for the
best!

THERE you are in an afternoon meeting,
refreshed from a good eight-hours sleep,
satisfied from a light and healthy lunch, and
eager to discuss with your boss your new
plans, when suddenly your head goes thick and
hurts all over, your breath becomes short,
nausea seeps up your trachea and you lose your
sense of balance, being unable to think or
communicate properly, as if you're moving in
heavy syrup.

You feel alarm, because you can't find a
rational explanation for this state. It could
be a headache - but it's not just your head
that hurts. It could be your blood pressure -
but you don't normally suffer from such
problems, or you experience that sense of
weakness and discomfort differently. Maybe
it's something you ate? Can you eat poisonous
pasta? That would explain the nausea but what
about the head-to-toe aching and dizziness,
and that notion of foreboding?

InGreeceyou won't be considered foolish or insane if
you simply assume it's an evil eye curse. The
evil eye, a glance believed to have the
ability to harm those on whom it falls, can
come from anyone at any moment, or you can
draw it to yourself. The cause can be zealous
admiration, envy or even malevolent jealousy.
Children and women are thought to be
particularly susceptible, while in many
traditions strangers, malformed or blue-eyed
individuals and old women are most often
accused of casting the evil eye.

Belief in the evil eye is ancient and
widespread; it occurred in ancientGreeceandRome
, and is found in Jewish, Islamic, Buddhist,
Hindu and Christian cultures, being
particularly prevalent today in theMediterraneanandAegean
.

The "curse" is usually thought to be
unintentional, although it can be deliberate
(in southernItalyit is believed that some people -
gettatori - are spiteful and
deliberately cast the evil eye on their
victims). Some folklorists presume that the
evil eye belief is rooted in primate biology
(as dominance and submission are expressed by
gazing and averting the gaze) and relates to
our dislike of and discomfort during
staring.

InGreeceand inTurkey
, glass blue eye charms to ward against the
evil eye are still regularly sold - very often
to be pinned on a baby's clothing. A
religiously devout as well as superstitious
nation as the Greeks are, they will often wear
a protective charm, or mataki, as well
as the cross, around the neck.

This is an issue over which Greek church and
folklore are both united and separated. They
are joined in their belief that the curse of
the evil eye (or kako mati) exists, but
divided in how it can be warded off or
tackled.

The Greek Orthodox Church has recognised the
kako mati since the establishment of
the faith. The church calls it Vaskania
(pronounced Vas-ka-nee-a) and has a special
prayer made especially to help cure those who
have fallen under the curse.

In talking with members of the church, the
Athens News found that a slight
division of opinion surrounding
Vaskania exists within the Greek
Orthodox faith as well. Father Sotirios says
that the evil eye is "a form of Satanism, or
black magic, which can injure and even kill, "
and that it comes mainly from a sense of
"acute jealousy, or coveting of others. "
Instead, Father Haralambos, from thechurchofAg
. Paraskevi, took a far more positive stance
on it, saying that the evil eye is "an
expression of extreme admiration", adding that
"it can be compared to putting too much
fertiliser on a plant, which will make it wilt
rather than blossom." Both agreed that
symptoms include dizziness, headache, pain and
a loss of one's bearings, and that wearing a
cross protects one from the evil eye, whilst
wearing a charm can't do you any harm but is
not recognised by the church as a form of
protection.

As for the prayer that is designed to
alleviate the symptoms, the priests were
insistent in their belief that it should be
done by a member of the church rather than a
layman. Common practise in Greek society has
it that people are taught the prayer by a
priest and will use it themselves to 'treat'
cursed friends and relatives, sometimes even
over the phone. Father Haralambos says the
prayer may work if done from afar, "as long as
the spiritual connection and good intentions
between the person doing the prayer and the
person who is unwell is strong, but that such
a phenomenon would be rare." Some believe that
for a woman to be able to do the prayer she
must be taught it by a man.

Father Sotirios is adamant that the prayer
should be done by the church, "if someone
outside the church does the prayer, it may
have a negative influence. Also, it is a sign
that you don't have enough faith in God to
help you."

Sister Aimiliani, a nun at the Exaltation of
the Holy Cross monastery inThebes
, presents a different view of the curse of
the evil eye. She confirms that the church
recognises it but adds "what one has to
understand is that just as we recognise the
existence of demons and the devil, we affirm
that they have no more power than we give
them."

Sister Aimiliani pronounces that the
Vaskania is not just about what others
do or feel, but also about what we draw
towards ourselves. "We have to accept
responsibility for our own passions and sins
and what makes us vulnerable as the receiver.
We are not just victims," she says. Being the
target of the evil eye, she explains, means
that there is something inside you that needs
to be addressed at the heart. Having the
prayer done for you each time you receive the
kako mati may alleviate the superficial
symptoms, but the process will be repeated and
you will remain vulnerable within. It is
through confession, she believes, "by
regularly opening your heart", that one can
release any darkness and negativity that may
reside inside us and, in turn, attract more of
its kind from those around us like a mirror.
"If you face your own sins constantly, you
will find both strength and humility, and the
evil eye will not be able to affect
you."

She adds somewhat mysteriously to this tenet
that if one constantly publicises one's good,
honourable or admirable deeds and feats
without simultaneously celebrating in the same
way those of others, "God will in turn
publicly present all your faults, sins and
dishonourable features to the same
extent."

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